- Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of President Donald Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has provided the House Intelligence Committee with secret recordings of Trump and Giuliani, ABC News reported Sunday.
- Giuliani acted as an unofficial lobbyist for the president in Ukraine, and was allegedly key in launching the search for an investigation into leading Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden that ultimately sparked the impeachment probe.
- Parnas, who was arrested on election finance violation charges in October, helped Giuliani with the investigation and supplied the recordings to the committee in response to a subpoena.
- Parnas denies the election finance violation charges against him.
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Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, has handed secret recordings and photographs to investigators on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating claims Trump committed impeachable offences in seeking to pressure Ukraine to launch criminal probes for his political benefit.
According to ABC News, the material including audio recordings, video recordings and photographs of Trump and Giuliani together, as well as documents in English and Ukrainian.
The committee reportedly started looking at the material last week, ABC said, adding that it was provided by Parnas in compliance with a subpoena issued to him in October.
It is unclear specifically what the recordings are of, and in a statement Parnas’ attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, would not comment on their content.
"Mr. Parnas has vociferously and publicly asserted his wish to comply with his previously issued subpoena and to provide the House Intelligence Committee with truthful and important information that is in furtherance of justice, not to obstruct it," he said in a statement to ABC.
Business Insider contacted the House Intelligence Committee, the White House, and Giuliani's attorney for comment, but none immediately responded to the request.
Former New York City Mayor Giuliani played a central role in the search for a criminal investigation into leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that is at the heart of the House impeachment probe.
Trump made Giuliani responsible for seeking announcements from Ukraine that it would investigate Joe Biden, a domestic political rival, as well as an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
Parnas, a Florida-based businessman, was reportedly a key part of Giuliani's investigation, helping the former New York mayor broker contacts with Ukrainian officials.
Parnas was arrested in October alongside associate Igor Fruman on charges of illegally channeling foreign money into GOP elections campaigns, an investigation separate to the impeachment probe. Both men deny the charges.
According to the ABC report, some of the information sought by the committee is in the hands of federal investigators in the Southern District of New York, which is probing Giuliani's ties with Parnas and Fruman.
Trump has denied that he sought to benefit from the investigations - claiming that he simply seeking to address Ukraine's longstanding problems with corruption.
However, multiple witnesses in the House impeachment inquiry have testified that that a "quid pro quo"deal was being sought by Trump, and any recordings of conversations on the matter between Trump and his key emissary in Ukraine will be of significant interest to investigators.